FISH FEAR ME

About

FISH FEAR ME is a single player shooter game with comedy and post-apocalyptic themes. It was developed by HEATHER FLOWERS and was released on February 21, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

FISH FEAR ME is a top-down Vampire Survivors-style roguelite where you fish up your enemies to fight, defeat, and sell them! Catch fish, uncover secrets, and hunt bounties to earn cash and forbidden knowledge, and use those resources to upgrade your boat, unlock new weapons and tools, and gain new abilities. Each region has new fish to catch, new bounties to fulfill, and new terrors of the deep. F…

Skip User Reviews

88%

Audience ScoreBased on 213 reviews

gameplay12 positive mentions

grinding8 negative mentions

Unique gameplay blending roguelike bullet hell mechanics with a fishing theme, offering deep strategy and player-controlled difficulty through baiting fish.
Engaging and satisfying progression system with a wide variety of boats, weapons, fish, and upgrades providing high replay value and diverse playstyles.
Outstanding soundtrack and quirky, charming aesthetic that enhances the immersive and fun experience.

Tank-style boat controls can be unintuitive and frustrating, causing a steep learning curve and discomfort for some players.
Can feel grindy and repetitive, especially in early runs and unlocking content, potentially leading to slow pacing and boredom.
Some weapons and enemy mechanics lack balance and polish, resulting in occasional clunky combat and frustration.

gameplay
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
60%
8%
The gameplay offers a unique blend of fishing and roguelite mechanics with a satisfying, deep core loop that combines risk-reward balance and progression, though some find it janky or slow at times. It builds on its predecessor with more mechanical depth, varied playstyles, and engaging upgrades, appealing especially to those who enjoy challenging, skill-based experiences. However, the presentation and pacing may limit its enjoyment for some players.
- “Heather Flowers has done it again. I am enraptured - an incredibly fulfilling, simple, and tense core loop of 'try and find weird fish you have bounties on,' roguelike progression, and a constant shadow of new mechanics and mysteries yet to be unlocked/discovered, combined with the 'choose your own hubris' of Snake Farm, where there's the immediate, palpable, and intense risk-reward.”
- “The gameplay loop is surprisingly deep and the Vampire Survivors-esque selection of boats make it so that the successor to Snake Farm exceeds its predecessor in every way imaginable.”
- “Fish Fear Me has expanded on the unique mechanics of Heather Flowers' first game Snake Farm while also adding some new mechanics to create another game that offers something truly special.”
- “The graphics are ugly, the gameplay kinda wonky and so on.”
- “Incredibly janky gameplay loop that feels very disjointed.”
- “The boat movement, weapon design, and enemy movement patterns feel haphazard, like they weren't designed with a clear gameplay experience in mind.”
music
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
54%
13%
The music in the game is widely praised for its quality and charm, especially the standout title track with memorable lyrics, which many wish could be played during gameplay. While the soundtrack is relatively small, it is highly regarded and enhances the fun and atmosphere, though some users desire more tracks and karaoke-style lyric display options. Overall, the music is considered a significant and enjoyable aspect that complements the innovative gameplay and unique world-building.
- “Just bought the soundtrack just for that.”
- “The soundtrack, however small admittedly very well made and the lyrics during the Leviathan fight are quite well executed!”
- “Pros: charming, great music, cool gameplay concept that seems like it gets a lot of depth later on, some fun subtle jokes, seems like you can have a lot of different play styles.”
- “I wish it had more music tracks or you could play the title music with lyrics during actual gameplay.”
- “The only improvement they can make is to have the song lyrics be enable-able in gameplay and not just the title screen.”
- “Only complaint is it needs more music.”
graphics
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
60%
20%
The game's graphics feature a nostalgic, pixelated art style with a charming and quirky aesthetic that some find endearing despite frequent glitches and rudimentary visuals. While the NES/SNES-inspired style fits the game's theme and adds uniqueness, the graphics can feel noisy and cluttered at times, affecting gameplay clarity. Overall, the visuals are appreciated for their retro appeal but are noted as basic and occasionally distracting.
- “The game offers some nice graphics and a nice aesthetic, although some ugly glitches here and there, it is pleasant all the same.”
- “Great rogue-lite SNES graphics, fishing game!”
- “The NES-esque graphics belie a mechanically deep and challenging game, nearly eldritch in nature.”
- “A fun game with a wonderful premise held back by wonky controls and crude graphics.”
- “Add to this that shooting fish is not impactful and that overall graphics are very rudimentary and it is hard to give this a thumbs up, no matter how much content there seems to be medium term.”
- “The graphics are ugly, the gameplay kinda wonky and so on.”
grinding
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is criticized for being excessively grind-heavy, requiring repeated runs to earn necessary resources, which can make progression feel tedious and slow. This grinding is especially frustrating given the roguelike elements and reliance on player skill, leading to repeated failures and restarts. Some suggest approaching the game more like an idle or incremental roguelike to alleviate the grind, but overall, the repetitive resource farming significantly impacts enjoyment.
- “The game gets quite grindy later on, requiring multiple runs to gather enough research points needed to progress or unlock new features.”
- “You'll find yourself grinding day after in-game day just to collect enough coins for the next upgrade or weapon, only to have a poor run force you to start over again.”
- “There is a key mechanic to win the game that requires spending permanent currency, but acquiring this currency is grindy.”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely praised for its charming, quirky, and clever elements, such as the hilariously themed fishing minigame and funny character costumes like the diving suit. Players enjoy the comedic moments arising from gameplay mishaps and the game's playful, offbeat style. Overall, the humor adds depth and charm, enhancing the cooperative and exploratory experience.
- “And it's very funny to die because you're the one who hit the 'oops all snakes' button.”
- “This is a charming game with all kinds of weird, funny elements that you have to dig to uncover, which is pretty much exactly what you want from something in this genre.”
- “Boat's got a keen sense of humor.”
story
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The story is generally appreciated for its simplicity, light lore, and engaging short narrative snippets that keep players interested. Fans enjoy the integration of the story with the game's art and music, enhancing the overall experience. However, some find it less compelling compared to gameplay frustrations.
- “Enjoy the light story and implied lore in this game.”
- “The little snips and snaps of story are enough to keep me interested and the takes on the fish are entertaining.”
- “Absolutely love the music, the story and art.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game runs smoothly and is stable overall, with intuitive controls on the Steam Deck. However, occasional minor graphical glitches are present but do not significantly impact the experience.
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users feel that the game's monetization is overly delayed or distant, making promotional ads feel drawn out and potentially off-putting.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game’s optimization is poor, with notably abysmal performance despite an engaging roguelike and vampire survivor-inspired design.
- “Game idea and style seem fun, a mix of roguelike and vampire survivor-esque autobattle with a manual respawn of enemies; however, the performance level is abysmal.”